Ex-cop acquitted of endangering Breonna Taylor's neighbors for shooting into their apartment during botched raid
- The ex-cop charged with endangering Breonna Taylor's neighbors was found not guilty on all charges.
- Brett Hankison shot through Taylor's window and sliding glass door into the neighboring apartment during the botched March 2020 raid that killed Taylor.
Ex-Louisville Metro Police Department detective Brett Hankison was found not guilty on all charges of wanton endangerment in the botched raid that left Breonna Taylor dead.
Hankison was the only police officer charged in connection to the March 2020 shooting, during which he fired bullets through Taylor's window and sliding glass door and into the neighboring apartment, which was occupied by two adults and a child.
"Justice was done. The verdict was proper and we are thrilled," defense attorney Stewart Mathews said, according to CNN.
Taylor — a 26-year-old Black woman — was shot and killed by police after they opened fire into her apartment when executing a warrant.
Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had fired a shot at officers when they entered the home, thinking it was a home invasion.
Seeing gunfire, Hankison went to the side of the apartment and fired 10 rounds into what he believed was a hallway where a figure was standing, he told the jury Wednesday. Several bullets went into the neighbor's home.
Mathews told jurors in his closing argument Thursday morning — four hours before the not guilty verdict was returned — that the former detective didn't know that there was an apartment behind Walker's.
In his closing argument, Mathews said his client could have run to the parking lot and "just kept going," when he thought officers were being fired at, but he didnt.
"He thought he was protecting his brother officers from being executed," Mathews said. "His perception was wrong, but remember he had to make that spit second decision."
Taylor's death sparked massive protests against police violence.